Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Latest NewsEconomics, government & businessLearning & developmentGraduatesRecruitment & retention

Pre-Budget Report must tackle graduate unemployment and skills funding

by Louisa Peacock 2 Dec 2009
by Louisa Peacock 2 Dec 2009

Next week’s Pre-Budget Report must tackle graduate unemployment, clarify skills funding and ensure better public sector workforce management ahead of major spending cuts, employers’ bodies have demanded.

Employment experts at think-tank the Work Foundation and business groups the CBI and EEF have outlined their wish lists for government spending ahead of the Pre-Budget Report, expected next Wednesday (9 December) to outline significant budget cuts.

The Work Foundation has asked the government to revise the jobs guarantee scheme, announced in April’s Budget, which plans to offer a job or “meaningful work-related activity” to all long-term unemployed people aged between 18 and 25.

The body said the scheme, funded by the £1.1bn Future Jobs Fund, must ensure individuals are offered extra training and six-monthly reviews to stand any chance of getting a real job.

David Coats, associate director of the Work Foundation, said: “Revising the Job Guarantee will improve the effectiveness of the programme, focus resources on the young people most in need of support, and encourage employers to become active partners in the initiative.”

In its submission to the Pre-Budget Report, Coats also urged the government to keep unemployment low by introducing a short-time working scheme.

Manufacturer’s body the EEF also put upskilling workers at the heart of its submission to the Pre-Budget Report. The organisation called for clarity on the future funding for skills programmes, after news that flagship projects such as Train to Gain were under threat.

The EEF also warned businesses should not have to burden higher taxes, and called for a freeze in small companies’ rate of corporate tax until April 2011.

Meanwhile, in its Pre-Budget Report submission, employers’ group the CBI said radical public services reform was needed to deliver significant savings.

The body has estimated an extra £120bn will need to be taken out of current spending to achieve budget balance by 2015-16.

John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI, said: “We have identified how the required savings might be achieved by re-engineering the ways in which public services are delivered. By introducing new technology and competition, eliminating waste and inefficiency, and tackling unaffordable pensions and pay head on, we can avoid crude cuts to front-line staff and the vital services on which we all depend.”

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Cridland added better management of staff sickness and temporarily freezing the public sector pay bill could yield savings of £27bn by 2015.

During the Budget 2009, the chancellor Alastair Darling said the he was looking to claw back £15bn annually by 2013-14 from ‘efficiency savings’, achieved through HR and back-office job cuts, and the introduction of more shared-services centres.

Louisa Peacock

previous post
Pensions dark age to hit the UK
next post
Doctors warned not to respond to amorous advances from patients on social networking sites

You may also like

Trainee GP who displayed Palestine flag sues for...

17 Sep 2025

Graduates face ‘white-collar’ recession in jobs market

17 Sep 2025

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder quits over Unilever’s social...

17 Sep 2025

Inflation unchanged at 3.8% in August

17 Sep 2025

Tech firms to plough £30bn into ‘AI Growth...

17 Sep 2025

Retirement at risk – why we all need...

17 Sep 2025

Sky to cut 600 jobs as it ‘reshapes’...

17 Sep 2025

MPs reject Lords’ amendments to Employment Rights Bill

16 Sep 2025

Failure to prevent fraud: Only 29% training staff...

16 Sep 2025

The rise in ‘workplace fawning’ and how it’s...

16 Sep 2025

  • Workplace health benefits need to be simplified SPONSORED | Long-term sickness...Read more
  • Work smart – stay well: Avoid unnecessary pain with centred ergonomics SPONSORED | If you often notice...Read more
  • Elevate your L&D strategy at the World of Learning 2025 SPONSORED | This October...Read more
  • How to employ a global workforce from the UK (webinar) WEBINAR | With an unpredictable...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits Live
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise